First Post / Thermometer Question

New tech here. I'm fairly new to appliance repair, although I have been repairing TVs/electronics in-home since the 1990's. Our company started repairing appliances about 18 months ago to supplement the "changing" TV repair business. We do warranty service for a few brands now: Samsung, LG, Sub-Zero/Wolf, Viking, Frigidaire/Electrolux. We do a lot of Samsung and are considered a MSC (of course we also do their electronics repairs). Being new to appliance repair, I have grown to enjoy it so far... and I know I am probably alone on this here in the Appliantology realm, but I like working on Samsung. I know them pretty well and can deal with most repairs pretty easily. I admit though, I have limited experience on other brands. Viking is a pain in the rear and seems to always be multiple trips with annoying customers.

ok... my question..

I so not have a good thermometer. I am drooling over the Fluke 52-2, but I am nut sure if I want to drop $200+ right now. Can anyone suggest something cheaper that would have reasonably similar function? How are the Fluke 116 as far as the accuracy of the thermometer? I use a Fluke 115 and love it. I thought the 116 might be compact also since it would have the basic meter functions and thermometer in one package.

Welcome, ohm! Sears sells a multimeter that has both a clamp on amp meter and a port for accepting a k-type thermocouple, which you can buy for just a few bucks more. The meter itself is less than $100 (that was several years ago, may be more now). Any of the Sears stores with a good tool section will carry it. You would read temperature on the VDC scale. I'm sure Brother Reg can link you up to a Harbor Freight alternative.

Welcome ohm!
You are not alone regarding Samsung. After the training convention in orlando, I have a new found respect for them. These guys are really trying to improve. They are aware the issues they have and are actively seeking to improve. They admit most of their techs were moved over from their tv division and it has taken awhile to develop and aquire true fridge technicians. With your background in tv repair, you probably speak their language better than most. They had the best teacher bar none at the training. He was honest about their manufacturing problems.. very refreshing. He changed a lot of techs minds regarding taking on samsung repair. It's great to have more Samsung specialists on this site. It's my goal to become one. Ok, now some tool talk...

The Fieldpiece is good, I use the sc77. I love the fluke 116 because of its convenience with the magnetic hanger attachment. Don't forget to get a good laser thermometer. Not as accurate but fast. Tip.... Use a small cast iron skillet in oven to get close to accurate temps using laser therm. The cast iron retains temp and eliminates temp misreadings due to cycling nature of ovens, the surface is also nonreflective.

When you are ready for the next level... Get a supco data logger for long term fridge temp measurements.

Welcome ohm!
You are not alone regarding Samsung. After the training convention in orlando, I have a new found respect for them. These guys are really trying to improve. They are aware the issues they have and are actively seeking to improve. They admit most of their techs were moved over from their tv division and it has taken awhile to develop and aquire true fridge technicians. With your background in tv repair, you probably speak their language better than most. They had the best teacher bar none at the training. He was honest about their manufacturing problems.. very refreshing. He changed a lot of techs minds regarding taking on samsung repair. It's great to have more Samsung specialists on this site. It's my goal to become one. ....

Thanks. It's funny, because the largest local appliance repair shop in our area hates Samsung. They even tell the customers that and despite that they are authorized and have access to training, I get jobs they started and could not fix, where service bulletins directly address the issue. They have no idea how good Samsung treats us ;-). I believe they were smart to build from their existing network of electronics techs that could be enticed to work on appliances given the state of the appliance repair industry (at least in our area). Don't get me wrong, you have some excellent techs out there. Most of these are working for themselves, or a small business with 1-3 employees, and not generally focused on warranty work. The larger shops that are setup to do all the warranty work in our area are total hacks with seemingly no desire to learn, troubleshoot, or provide customer service. Then you have A&E which,,, you know the rest.

I was amazed at first when I started to service appliances, that I would follow up on this other company and the customer would complain that the previous tech did nothing, No opening of doors, no temp checks, no error code checks, no test modes, nothing. Basically just walked into the customers home, dispensed BS for a while and left. Wow. Then I would check the service record and see the previous claims for "fixed broken wire" and "adjusted fan", etc.

One thing I like about Appliantology is that we can sharpen each others samurai swords by sharing knowledge and experiences to raise the bar for even ourselves. As I have time, I will be posting some more good stuff that hopefully will help out.

I appreciate your posts as well! Thanks for the tip on the cast iron pan.

you sound like me, I was mostly hvac but I want to learn more appliance repair. As far a meter, I use a fluke 116 far all of the different functions.One thing I can say is the appliance repair people do seem more willing to help each other and I am looking forward to learning from you folks.